Foreign Exchange: Thomas Cook is cheeky

Crabman

travellingbum wrote: »

This OP was posted almost twelve months ago. Today, if somebody offered me 1.40 euros the the £, I would jump at it.

I've moved this to the Travel Board. Take note of the following threads for any further questions

Euro Currency, US Currency

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move discussions from the MoneySaving boards if they’re not related to MoneySaving to help everyone find the MoneySaving tips and discussion quicker (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to Discussion Time/The Arms. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

benjus

Biggles wrote: »

It would be around €1.47 with a Nationwide visa card at an ATM....

Ahhh, them were the days... :undecided

carolwat

I opened a nationwide account online last week and took the id to the bank and have received everything I need to use my card abroad as from tomorrow when we go. There is no mention of depositing £750. There were 3 options and you had to choose one. One was using it as a main account, another was being 16 or 17 years old and the other was to deposit £100 when you get your card which is no problem as we wanted to deposit our holiday money.

Try online for the flexi account.

paulh2008

Biggles wrote: »

It would be around €1.47 with a Nationwide visa card at an ATM....

Why carry cash?

And what if a machine swallows your card? Your flies would definitely be undone then ... :rotfl:

We met a Thomas Cook Exchange Manager on holiday a few years ago and asked her what she did - she said she always took cash! We have done for years, although a resort we regularly stay in usually offers a better rate than anyone in the UK.

benjus

paulh2008 wrote: »

And what if a machine swallows your card? Your flies would definitely be undone then ... :rotfl:

Simple - you take more than one card. If the Nationwide card gets lost/stolen/swallowed you just switch to the other one. You won't get the Nationwide exchange rate but it still won't be too bad and IMO certainly preferable to taking cash only.

I have used my Nationwide card in hundreds of cash machines across Europe, North America and South America and it has never been swallowed while abroad.

pattycake

I have used my Nationwide card in hundreds of cash machines across Europe, North America and South America and it has never been swallowed while abroad.[/quote]


I sincerely hope you were touching wood benjus when you were typing that statement:rotfl:

leanne2682

i opened a flex account as i spent summer abroad and wanted to take advantage of the good rate. I opened the account where you only get a cash card, its simple. We have now made it to a joint account and so on holiday we keep a card with us and one in the safe.

The euro is poor at the moment, i will be in spain next week and at the place , i usually use over there they are currently exchanging at 1.2565 . Today i was in town and saw it advertised at a "fabulous" 1.20....whatever!!!

paulh2008

benjus wrote: »

I have used my Nationwide card in hundreds of cash machines across Europe, North America and South America and it has never been swallowed while abroad.

So, you don't have house insurance then ...

If you take cash you can split it up amongst people and places and limit losses from a single unfortunate event. Losing some cash or having it nicked is bad enough but losing a card is far more hassle, no matter how many cards you take. Cash can't be skimmed or cloned like a card can, and you won't know about that until you get home or even worse your card is refused while still on holiday.

Going back to cheeky Thomas Cook, their web site calculator quotes a rate for an amount, but when you go to the shop that rate is only available for amounts over £500, even if you entered a lower amount in the calculator. The web-site Post Office rate is only available for on-line purchases, the counter rate is very poor. Only M&S give you at the counter what they state on the web-site, amount irrelevant.